Winds of Change
by Shi Xiao Ling
Summary: An Aes Sedai long forgotten by history, arrives back on the mainland after hearing rumors of Lews Therin being risen from the dead. NEW Chp.3!!! (please r/r and give ideas, it would be most apppreciated.)
1. Prologue

Prolouge  
  
I have often wondered if the path that I have walked would have been different if I had come out of a different time. The priests say that the Wheel is still spinning, but I am beginning to have my doubts. I felt something the other day, a force so strong I have not felt since I came to this island. And that was a long time ago indeed. Something has happened with the Power and I can feel the saidar run through my veins in a way that I have not felt since the days of Therin.my, I am old. To have these memories haunt me still. Maybe it could be.no, has this Age really come to a close? --Kyriet Gambion t'Aellinsar  
  
-----------  
  
His boots were damp and dripped tracks of thick, black mud as he made his way to the bar. The hood of his woolen coat covered his face. He could not afford to be recognized here, not until he talked to the guild master. No one paid him any attention, and he made his way to the appointed corner of the tavern, where he was supposed to meet his contact. He sighed. A respected member of society would not be caught dead in a setting like this, but then again, after what he had done Dellian Shobat was no longer a respected name among the higher crowds.  
  
"You shouldn't look so glum, after all I am the benefactress that is saving your hide."  
  
Dellian turned around to look for the woman's voice, but there was no one close enough that he could see that would be speaking to him. "Where are you?" he whispered.  
  
"No where that you can see," he heard the woman's voice say, "but discreetly make your way up the steps.I have laid a path for you to follow. Then, we shall talk about what needs discussing." Dellian did not know why, but nodded his head in compliance with the voice's instructions. He made his way up the stairs after business in the tavern started to pick up. When he reached the third and final floor, a small globe of light hung in the air before him.  
  
"Great, I had to be saved by a bloody witch." Dellian muttered. The globe then began to float down the hallway, a he had to keep a quick pace to match its speed. He rounded a couple of corners and arrived at a door that had a circular symbol of a snake etched into it. The globe then faded away. Dellian did not know what else to do so he knocked on the door and turned the knob.  
  
The room looked liked any other room that a patron at the tavern would be sleeping in, except for the tapestry of a dragon on the back wall, the elaborate glided chair with sliver cushions in one corner, and a woman in a silk shift staring out a window.  
  
"Please, sit." The woman snapped her fingers, and Dellian felt himself being tugged by an unseen force as he was sat in the cushioned chair. He watched the woman as she closed the door and then cross the room again to close the window shutters. Dellian, part in shock, part in not knowing what to do, didn't say anything, but took a moment to admire the woman's beauty.  
  
She was elegant, and skinnier than most women, her frame somehow managed to appear thin, but not brittle. Her skin was almost as pale as the moon outside, her green eyes perfectly set in a round face framed by raven black hair than openly hung to her waist.  
  
"Who are you?" Dellian asked.  
  
The woman turned to face him. Dellian's face turned bright red as he realized that he was seeing more than was proper through the shift.  
  
"You look uncomfortable, General Shobat," the woman said with a laugh as her illusion fell and the chair changed into a simple plain wooden one and the shift that she was wearing turned into a brilliant green dress that was drawn up to expose a bright yellow petticoat underneath. "But, how fun it is to make an impression on people that they will never forget." The woman let out a silent chuckle.  
  
Dellian was slightly embarrassed, but clearly not amused at the woman's playful antics. If the bloody witch summoned him here with a deal that would save his neck from the rope, then she'd better hurry up and bloody well offer it! He contained his anger as the woman continued to speak.  
  
"If you would be paitent, I can tell you what it is that I have to offer," It was like the woman was reading his mind! "I have the power to reverse things that have happened to you and save your neck, but first you must tell me why I might be persuaded to do so," She paused to take a breath. "My contacts tell me you have information I might find interesting?"  
  
He cleared his breath and stood. "M'Lady, I have reports.reports of stories coming from the outside." He looked around a bit nervously. The woman crossed her arms and motioned for him to continue. "A ship has pulled near our shores.manned by people with the dark skin.they claim to be trading goods from a city on the main continent, a place called Ebou Dar."  
  
"Ebou Dar? The main continent? No one has dared travel here by ship for many ages." The woman stared at Dellian in disbelief. What is the ship still doing here? It surely would have been damaged and sunk at this point, with the way things on the island ran. These people who called themselves the Sea Folk, they never came this close to the island. "Tell me, General Shobat, is there anything else about these people you have to tell me?"  
  
"M'Lady, I managed to talk to one of the passengers that came ashore before a village mob attacked him, he claims that the dragon has been reborn, or something of the like and then ran screaming towards the ocean as a mob chased him."  
  
The woman looked him up and down, as if she were looking for any hint of doubt. "I think, General, that I have heard all I need to know. A room will be reserved for you at this tavern for you to stay until a pardon can be arranged in the city. Go downstairs and talk to the barkeep, tell him that Jade needs a room." The woman motioned Dellian out of the door with a wave of her hand and watched with an expressionless face as the door closed behind him.  
  
"Do you think he was telling the truth, Kyriet?" a man said as he stepped out from behind the tapestry that he was hiding.  
  
"I don't know Sola, but I have felt a great presence in the north with the Power, and with the dreams I have been having, I can't afford not to take the risk." She opened a box on a nightstand next to the bed. Inside was a ring of a serpent biting its own tail. "Sola, find out more about this ship if you can, see if it is still near our shores.It appears we are going on a trip."  
  
Sola nodded his head and was out of the door before Kyriet could realize he was gone. The Dragon was reborn? It had been a long time since the Breaking, since the university fell, since she came to this accursed place. Was the world ready to make a change for the better at last? Kyriet had to find out. She went to sleep with thoughts of prophecies floating about in her head.and as usual of late, she dreamt of her husband.her dear sweet Tel. 


	2. Remembrance in Dreams

CHAPTER 1: Remembrance in Dreams  
  
Kyriet had long resisted the will to call herself Aes Sedai. Ever since the time of the Breaking, she had made the decision to detach herself from the Tower. She still held onto the serpent ring, a constant reminder of the past she could not escape, for now it was calling her back to everything Kyriet had run from. Had it been long enough? Questions like this ran through her head while she slept, dreams reflecting the past she had almost forgotten.  
  
***  
  
"You can not leave this place, you will be abandoning your people if you do." Her father screamed. Kyriet had been debating with him all afternoon, ever since she told him of her decision to leave the city and study the One Power at Collam Daan.  
  
"Father, the powers of our people are great, but they are not enough. I must study this craft that the humans call channeling." Kyriet was getting tense. Why could he not see that their people would only benefit from the knowledge that she could attain?  
  
"I will not allow you to go. I cannot bear to risk the loss of another one of the Meki." He paused for a moment. "Our people are dying, Kya." His voiced trailed off into a soft sigh.  
  
Kyriet stared at him for a moment longer before she spoke.  
  
"I understand your concerns, Father, for they are my own, but my decision is final. I'm going to prove to you that the knowledge I am going to obtain will not only benefit our race, but the nature that we protect and take care of as well." Her last act of defiance said and done, Kyriet walked out of the door with her satchel in tow and made her way to the caravan waiting outside.  
  
----------  
  
(Be careful not to sever yourself, Kya.) was all Kyriet could think as she sat in the center of the courtyard inside Collam Daan's walls. The women and men gathered there were circled around, watching her. They were waiting to see if the rumors true. Of a member of the Meki that still existed, a Meki that could channel. Kyriet was being tested.  
  
Kyriet closed her eyes and reached far into the depths of her mind. She brought forth the image of a lotus flower and made the image open and bloom. Her eyes opened as she was filled with the One Power. One by one, Kyriet took a strand of each of the five weaves and formed a simple, harmless glowing orb that floated in front of where she sat. Gasps could be heard from many of the onlookers, for those who could channel and see individual weaves saw that the Meki girl could draw on all five, a feat that proved difficult even for most humans.  
  
She wasn't done yet. Now it was time to show these scholars what her mentor taught her and truly impress them. In a balanced fashion, she drew on all five weaves equally and added them to the orb. As Kyriet's drew on more weaves, the orb grew accordingly, until its width was only a breath's distance away from the closest onlooker, a woman that walked up and gently laid her hand on Kyriet's shoulder, breaking the girl's concentration and causing the orb to disappear.  
  
"That will be enough for today, Miss Gambion." The woman said.  
  
"Have I proven myself worthy of the ring, Lana Sedai?" Kyriet said while looking up at the woman. Lana's head nodded in response.  
  
----------  
  
It was considered abnormal among her people to even consider the thought of marrying someone who was not Meki. However, it was definitely something that Kyriet was not worried about today, for the exhilaration of her wedding day was enough for her to throw all care aside about strange looks she might receive. Today was both a day of celebration and peaceful bliss, and she laughed loudly as her husband picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Today she became Kyriet Gambion t'Aellinsar, wife to the greatest sportsman in the world, Tel Janin Aellinsar.  
  
----------  
  
From a distance, Kyriet could hear Lews Therin Telamon's voice above the echoing of steel ringing on steel. She ran in the direction of the fighting, but who was he dueling, and why here? Kyriet rounded the corner of the hallway and went through the doors that led outside. What she saw was like a stopped moment in time as a sword flashed and another man fell to the ground, a hand clutching the side of his face.  
  
***  
  
Kyriet awoke in a cold sweat. Every time she had that dream, she woke up with a start. It was the one moment in time that scared her the most, the time she believed her husband turned away from the Light, herself, and anything else that was considered good. It was the day he walked the path to the Dark One and was henceforth called Sammael. 


	3. Bentam's Visit

CHAPTER 2: Bentam's Visit  
  
Sola scouted the coast of the island, but the ship has already set sail and was nowhere to be seen. His keen eyes scanned the moonlit waters, and he could see as far as the point where the sky touched the water. Still, he could not catch even a glimpse of the ship or its sails. His square jawed face grimaced as he sighed.  
  
Making his way back towards the village, Sola walked along the side of a pebbled road to avoid being struck down by any random mob that might happen to come by. He ran a hand through his short brown hair as he muttered to himself. Sometimes he thought that Kyriet and himself were the only two sane people on the island.  
  
A long time ago, Sola heard rumors of a woman with great political powers within the Priests' circle. Someone who had the power to clear him of a crime he did not commit. He met her the same way Shobat did, and after performing a certain task that involved stealing a book that was in the Priests' possession, which to this day, she has still not revealed its contents, Kyriet did as promised and managed to clear him of all charges. She has since called him back for repeated tasks, and over time they became loyal companions, and formed a partnership that benefited them both.  
  
Sola maintained full awareness of his surroundings as he reached the entrance of Gai'tain. The island and its village were referred to by outsiders as well as locals as " the Land of Madmen", an aptly fitting name, he thought, even though he lived here his whole life and didn't know any other way of living. Kyriet told him of how this land came to be, of a time called the Breaking, when all the men who had the power to channel went mad. Many people of all types fled to this untouched island, away from the madness and the Dark One's touch. In time though the madness overtook the island once the rest of the world settled, and became wilder and hellish with every turn of the Wheel. Much of what used to be a peaceful city has now been reduced to a mud-ridden hovel that can barely qualify as a village. Any outsider that has the courage to venture into this place are often attacked by those driven insane, as a rule people who are not recognized are not treated as welcome. Very few of those that have arrived here don't often stay; they often flee or are driven mad themselves.  
  
Sola didn't want to go back to Kyriet empty-handed, so he made his way to the hut where Bentam lived. Bentam was an unusual breed of person; claming to be from the mainland, managing to avoid mob attacks when he arrived. Sola reached the alley where the hut was, and fell to the ground as he was pushed out of they way by the Priest's Army. He cursed silently at himself as they passed by. The Priest's Army way the representation of law here on the island, controlled by the Council of Priests, a band of 7 of the highest-ranking Wise Men. He did not like the Council, or their Army, but like everyone else that lived here, Sola believed that without them, conditions in Gai'tain could be a lot worse.  
  
Sola got back onto his feet and dusted off his dark brown breeches and tunic, checking to make sure his dagger was still in place at his waist. He arrived at the hut, and since there were no doors on any building in this shanty part of town, he poked his head into the entrance.  
  
Bentam's hut was a one-room building with no windows, made completely of thatch walls and roof. The only furniture consisted of a makeshift bed of straw in the back and a small basket containing various fruit. A small, wiry man sat on the bed in a meditative posture with his eyes closed.  
  
"It has been a while since last we talked, Sola." The hairless man's gray eyes matched Sola's own black as Sola stepped inside the hut. "What is wrong this time?"  
  
"Nothing, Master Bentam," Sola sat in a cross-legged position in front of the man. Sola was of average height, but compared to Bentam, he was a giant and felt uncomfortable standing. "I was hoping you might be able to tell me something about the ship that came by the island."  
  
Bentam's steely eyes stared at him for a moment, and the frail man coughed loudly before speaking.  
  
"I had heard rumors of a ship nearing the shores, but I have not been outside to see for myself. I am an old man, and as I'm sure you know, the streets are not safe for a person in my condition to be wandering about." Bentam paused to catch his breath. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Bentam, you told me once that you came from the outside, the mainland. An informant told the person that I work for that someone from the ship reached the island, and managed to get some message out before a mob attacked him. Have you heard anything about a dragon being reborn?"  
  
Bentam's eyes opened wide in surprise. 


	4. Glossary

GLOSSARY  
  
----------  
  
The following terms below are key terms in my story that are of my own creation and not that of Robert Jordan's. Some details in the definitions are not currently written in the story. This list will continuously grow as the story continues.  
  
----------  
  
Bentam: Sola's friend that often tells him tales of the outside world.  
  
Council of Priests: Seven of the highest-ranking Wise Men that do their best to govern the people on the island.  
  
Dellian Shobat: A former general of the Priest's army, he sought Kyriet's aid after being found guilty of blackmail.  
  
Gai'tain: The only village on the Island.  
  
Jade: An alternate name Kyriet tends to go by when she does not want her real identity known.  
  
Kyriet Gambion t'Aellinsar: Born as Kya of the Meki, she quickly rose to underground power and fame as the only known member of her race who could channel. Her name "Kyriet" is the human translation of her Meki name; her second name "Gambion" was given to her by one of her Aes Sedai mentors. After becoming Aes Sedai. The honorific third name she earned through her progress with the one power, but she waited until the day of her marriage to share the name of her husband Tel Janin Aellinsar (hence the t'). Currently, she is looking for confirmation of rumors about the rebirth of Lews Therin.  
  
Lana Sedai: An Aes Sedai who lived during the Age of Legends that discovered Kyriet's inborn ability to channel. Became Kyriet's mentor as Kyriet's ability with the One Power grew.  
  
Meki: A forgotten race that is physically similar to humans in appearance. During the Age of Legends, their race was already thought of as myth and non-existent. These long-lived beings were said to be the protectors of the spirits, and were keepers of the forests. Any known written record of them was lost during the Age of Legends, although their name is still mentioned in some Ogier songs.  
  
Priest's Army: The law keeping body of the Island.  
  
Sola: Born on the island, he is Kyriet's top key informant, confidant, and loyal companion.  
  
Wise Men: A group of men that villagers can go to in order to seek advice. 


End file.
